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Emmanuelle Grey Rossum, or better known as Emmy Rossum, (born September 12, 1986) is a Golden Globe-nominated American actress and a singer-songwriter. She is probably most well known for her leading roles in the films The Day After Tomorrow, Poseidon and The Phantom of the Opera. Having starred in several movie blockbusters and with a unique theatrical background under her belt – all by the age of 18 – it was no wonder Emmy Rossum was named one of the “Six Actors to Watch this Fall (and Long Thereafter)” in 2003 by The New York Times. An ethereal, wide-eyed beauty with the classically-trained voice of an angel, Rossum made her first major impression on filmgoers as Christine in the feature film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's beloved musical, "The Phantom of the Opera." She wasted no time, thereafter, racking up an impressive list of film credits, while continuing to entertain with her lovely vocal gifts. Rossum was born in New York City, New York an only child of Sheryl, a corporate photographer and a banker. Her family is Jewish, and her parents divorced when her mother was pregnant and she was raised by her mother, having only met her father twice. Her song "Anymore" from her album Inside Out, is based on this experience. Upon singing "Happy Birthday" in 12 different keys, Emmy was welcomed by the director, Elena Doria as a member of the Metropolitan Opera Children's Chorus. Over the course of five years, Rossum sang onstage, and, along with the many other members of the chorus, with the likes of such opera greats as Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti. For $5 a night (there was once a horse on stage with her who got $150 a night), Rossum sang in five different languages, in 20 different operas such as La Boheme, Turandot, a Carnegie Hall presentation of The Damnation of Faust and A Midsummer Night's Dream. among others, and worked under the direction of Franco Zeffirelli in Carmen. By age twelve, Rossum had grown too big for the children's costumes, and an increasing interest in pursuing acting led to her getting an agent, and subsequent auditions for many acting roles. Rossum made her first TV appearance at age 11 as Abigail Williams on the longtime running daytime soap, “As the World Turns” and went on to make guest appearances on the highly-acclaimed dramas “Law and Order,” (NBC, 1990- ) in 1997 and “The Practice” (ABC, 1997) in 2001. Her short, yet notable stints in episodic television opened doors to TV films, where she starred in “Genius” (Disney Channel, 1999) and charmed viewers and critics with her portrayal of the teenage Audrey Hepburn in the ABC Original Movie “The Audrey Hepburn Story” (2000). The year 1997 saw Rossum's television debut with a guest appearance on Law & Order as Alison Martin. A recurring role as the original Abigail Williams, in the long-running daytime soap As the World Turns, and a guest role as Caroline Beels in Snoops was soon to follow (1999), as were several other minor roles in two movies and mini-series. Rossum was nominated for a Young Artist Award nomination in 1999 for Best Performance in a TV Movie for her work in the made-for-tv movie Genius, followed by roles such as the young Audrey Hepburn in the ABC TV movie The Audrey Hepburn Story (2000). Rossum made her big screen debut in 2000's Songcatcher as an Appalachian orphan, Deladis Slocumb. Debuting at the Sundance Film Festival, it won the Special Jury Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance. For her role, Rossum received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Debut Performance and also had the opportunity to sing a duet with Dolly Parton on the Songcatcher soundtrack. In Nola (2003), Rossum played the title character, an aspiring songwriter; in her first major studio film, Clint Eastwood's Mystic River, Rossum stars as Katie Markum, the ill-fated daughter of small-business owner Jimmy Markum, played by Sean Penn. As Katie, Rossum is said to have "projected an aura of innocence that made her character's tragic death memorable and heartbreaking". Following Mystic River, Rossum made a breakthrough role as Laura Chapman in the Roland Emmerich eco-disaster film The Day After Tomorrow, which was released in 2004. After returning to New York, Rossum was the last to audition, in full costume and make-up for the coveted role of Christine Daaé in the screen adaptation of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber's world-famous and longest running musical The Phantom of the Opera. Following an international search for talent, and having nearly missed the audition on account of a family engagement, Rossum was asked to audition in person for Lloyd Webber at his home in New York. Webber felt she proved her ability to play the young opera singer who becomes the object of the phantom's obsessive love opposite Broadway singer Patrick Wilson as Raoul and actor Gerard Butler as The Phantom. For her role as Christine Daaé, Rossum received a Golden Globe nomination and many other awards. In 2006, Rossum appeared in Poseidon, Wolfgang Petersen's high-budget remake of The Poseidon Adventure, as Jennifer Ramsey, the daughter of Kurt Russell's character. She also appeared as Juliet in a 2006 Williamstown Theatre Festival Production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. After the "Phantom" media blitz subsided, Rossum returned to the big budget blockbuster, appearing with an all-star cast in Wolfgang Petersen's summer flick, "Poseidon" (2006). At the same time she was trying to survive an overturned cruise ship, Rossum began recording an album of pop music for Geffen Records. In an interview with USA Today, Rossum revealed that she has already signed on to do four films, which are a comedy, character drama and two indies in 2008. It was announced on December 15, 2007 that Rossum had joined the cast of the upcoming Dragonball live-action film, playing the role of Bulma. After her role in The Phantom of the Opera, Rossum was offered several deals to record classical albums, but refused, opting to create an album of contemporary, more mainstream music. Of her music, she says “it's pop music, but not Britney Spears bubblegum pop. I want it to have a David Gray or Annie Lennox feel. I’ve been spending up to 12 hours a day in the studio.” She cites Dolly Parton, Madonna, Cher, and Barbra Streisand as some of her influences, among others. Rossum offers that "I was inspired to cut this album because I'm so frustrated listening to the radio these days. There is so little emotional honesty.” Her own songs are reflective of her inner thoughts, often about relationships and “getting hurt, wanting the other person back, not wanting to be the first person to go back.” The entire album is currently available. The album, produced by Stuart Brawley, is titled Inside Out and was released into stores on October 23, 2007. Clips of her album are available on her Myspace page. For the promotion of the album, Geffen Records also feature her album's single, "Slow Me Down", as part of the second volume of Hollywood Records' Girl Next compilation album, which was released on July 10, 2007. Her album Inside Out is also available on iTunes. On October 27, 2007, she sang the national anthem at the NJ Devils' Stadium Opener game and her new album was mentioned. On December 4, 2007, Rossum released three Christmas songs in her Carol of the Bells EP, avalilable on iTunes and Amazon. Emmy does not consider herself an opera singer, but she has described herself as a light lyric soprano, though she admits her voice is still developing. Although she was born in New York, Emmy currently splits her time between the apartment she shares with her mother in Manhattan and Los Angeles, CA, where she is working on her album for Geffen Records. Rossum suffers from celiac disease, an auto-immune disorder marked by the body's intolerance of food containing gluten. Rossum claims that "When I was really young, I wanted to be 1,000 different things. In acting, I get to do that every six weeks.” Although her secret ambition is writing, directing and producing, she believes that if she weren’t an actress, she would likely be a mathematician or an astronaut. Rossum attended Spence School in Manhattan, an elite girls school attended by Gwyneth Paltrow and Kerry Washington; the school gave her an ultimatum when her attendance started to slip on account of her engagements with the Met, forcing her to choose between school and music. Choosing to continue with her music, Rossum received her high school diploma when she was fifteen via online extension courses offered by Stanford University's Education Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY). Rossum began dating art scion David Wildenstein of the French billionaire art-dealing family in 2004. Unfortunately, although Rossum considered him to be “a great guy: really smart, a gentleman,” she was in L.A. all the time, while he continued to reside in New York, causing the relationship to end in 2006. In 2007, she dated actors Topher Grace and Chris Evans. Rossum, who has been credited who? with her clean lifestyle and strategic ability to avoid tabloids and paparazzi, suggests that she would never date other celebrities for the sake of maintaining her positive image. Preferring to keep her personal life out of the media spotlight a task made easier by living in her native New York Rossum believes she is of no interest to the media as she is not “sleeping around or falling down drunk” and she is determined "not to get caught dancing on tables" (unlike her character in Mystic River). Rossum was inspired by her Poseidon co-star Josh Lucas's work with YouthAIDS, and became a YouthAIDS ambassador. Rossum is currently dating record producer Justin Siegel, who is the son of Ned Siegel, the United States ambassador to the Bahamas. |
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